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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488177">New Years Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaerieChild/pseuds/FaerieChild'>FaerieChild</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lord John Series - Diana Gabaldon, Outlander &amp; Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M, Modern AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:22:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488177</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaerieChild/pseuds/FaerieChild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For their first New Years Day as a married couple, Jamie Fraser and John Grey have very different ideas about the right way to celebrate. A fluffy one shot written for fun.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jamie Fraser/Lord John Grey, Jenny Fraser/Ian Murray</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>New Years Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>John walked into the kitchen of the house he shared with James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser and kissed his husband on the cheek.</p><p> </p><p>‘Good evening. How was work?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Work was fine. Its the commute that’s killing me.’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie shook his head at John’s nonsense. His commute was currently to walk ten yards along the hall to the home office.</p><p> </p><p>‘So what are we making for dinner?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Stovies.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Ah, good old Scottish comfort food.’</p><p> </p><p>‘With cabbage,’ Jamie added.</p><p> </p><p>John scowled.</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t make that face. I’ll sear it wi’ butter and black pepper the way you like it.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Does anyone really like cabbage though?’ John queried.</p><p> </p><p>Jamie let that one go.</p><p> </p><p>‘So, I was thinking since it was our first New Year together we should talk about what we want to do to celebrate.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Hogmanay, you mean.’</p><p> </p><p>‘New Years Eve.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Oidhche Challainn.’</p><p> </p><p>‘That’s cheating,’ John wound his arms around Jamie’s waist as he worked and rested his head on Jamie’s shoulder. ‘You know I can’t pronounce Gaelic.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Bloody Sassenach.’</p><p> </p><p>John rolled his eyes. ‘Rebellious Scots to crush.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Ye ken when ye’re running the country I’m going to get ye to change that.’</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m not sure that’s in the rule book and besides, I’m a civil servant.’</p><p> </p><p>‘All the work and none of the credit,’ Jamie opined. ‘So, what did ye have in mind for Hogmanay, then? Ye ken its a big deal in Scotland. Ye’ve got big boots tae fill.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Well, the truth is its not so much of a New Years Eve thing, more of a New Years Day, thing.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh?’ Jamie’s eyes perked up. He had his own plans about that but he hadn’t told John yet. They would go up to Scotland, gie it laldy, have a bit of a party, get drunk on whisky and then go sea bathing in the morning to cure their hangovers.</p><p> </p><p>With a flourish John pulled out two concert tickets and presented them to Jamie. Slowly, Jamie looked at them.</p><p> </p><p>Vienna. Royal Philharmonic.</p><p> </p><p>Black tie.</p><p> </p><p>1100 01/01</p><p> </p><p>Jamie blinked. Slowly he unwound himself from John’s embrace and looked at them properly. ‘Ye want to go to a black tie concert before noon on New Year’s Day? In...Austria?’ Jamie looked up. It was only once he’d already word vomited up his scathing thoughts through his tone of voice that he saw the heartbreak shatter across John’s face and John attempted to snatch the tickets back.</p><p> </p><p>‘If you must know its one of the most beautiful and prestigious cultural events in Europe.’</p><p> </p><p>‘John...’</p><p> </p><p>‘Forget I said anything.’</p><p> </p><p>‘John...’ Jamie said more softly. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...’</p><p> </p><p>‘No, Jamie.’ John said softly. ‘You did, actually.’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie paused. ‘Aye,’ He nodded and then swallowed hard. ‘It seemed like a mad thing to do on New Year’s Day is all. If I’d kent it meant so much to you...’ Jamie tried to look him in the eye.</p><p> </p><p>John looked at him fiercely. ‘My entire life, I have hoped to have someone in my life worth making this memory with.’ John held up the tickets. ‘And I thought - I thought...’ John couldn’t finish the sentence. A single tear rolled down his cheek .</p><p> </p><p>In that moment Jamie didn’t feel six foot four. He felt as small as a human could feel as he kicked himself for his stupidity. John was not a man who cried. He was stiff upper lipped to a degree that he hated. He had spent his life trying to find ways to break out of the public school emotional corset he had been stuffed into in his youth. Jamie cleared his throat. ‘I apologise, John. I love you and if its that important to you, of course we can go.’</p><p> </p><p>‘No,’ John disagreed. ‘I’m not sure that we can. It would be tainted. I would like to know, however, what is so much more important than a proud and beautiful cultural tradition from one of the most superlative orchestras of the modern era.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Well, its just we always go for a loonie dook on New Years Day.’</p><p> </p><p>John blinked. ‘What precisely is a...loonie dook...’ John said slowly. The word sounded odd in his received English accent. ‘Dare I ask?’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie shrugged. ‘I always brought in New Years with Iain and Murtagh and everyone up at Lallybroch and then everyone goes First Footing around Broch Mordha and we get about two hours sleep and then on New Years Day we’d have a massive fry-up and throw all the kids in the car and Jenny drives us all over to Gairloch for a day at the seaside.’</p><p> </p><p>‘At the seaside...’ John repeated. Was he hearing that right? ‘On the first of January.’ He paused, ‘In Scotland.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Aye. To swim in the sea.’</p><p> </p><p>‘To swim in the sea!?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Are ye just going to stand there repeating everything I say?’</p><p> </p><p>‘You want me to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime to risk life and limb and hypothermia by jumping in the sea on New Year’s Day.’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie could only smile at the self-awareness of how mad it might sound to someone outside of the tradition. ‘There’s a reason they call it the loonie dook, John.’</p><p> </p><p>‘And how close is the nearest hospital?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Ocht,’ Jamie shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. ‘Only a couple of hours by road. Though wi’ Jenny’s driving ye could do it in half the time in a hurry - Janet went through a rally driving phase in High School. It was quite big in the Highlands for a while.’</p><p> </p><p>John’s eyes widened at that information and then he shook off the shock and filed away that news for another day. Jenny Murray was a trained rally driver? John shook his head in disbelief.</p><p> </p><p>‘Have I broken ye?’ Jamie teased him. ‘Nevermind, there’s always next year. When’s our flight?’</p><p> </p><p>‘What flight?’</p><p> </p><p>‘To Vienna,’ Jamie said slowly. ‘I’ll need to pack. I’m not sure I have tails though. I’ll need to hire some, I think, unless I can wear my kilt outfit.’</p><p> </p><p>John groaned. ‘The one with all the shiny buttons? That’s not playing fair. You know fine well we’re not going to Vienna anymore.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Of course we are. Look, we’ve got the tickets right here,’ Jamie pointed at them.</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh screw Vienna. I’m not missing this for the world. And besides, if you think I’m letting you do something that daft without supervision you have another thing coming.’</p><p> </p><p>‘They’d eat ye alive. They’d dance ye tae death wi’ Strip The Willow and ply ye wi’ whisky and cranachan on Hogmanay an then chuck ye in the ocean in the morning.’</p><p> </p><p>‘How hedonistic of them,’ John assessed. ‘I’ll give the tickets to Hal.’</p><p> </p><p>‘John, don’t be daft. The sea is there every day. We’ll go to Vienna and make apologies to my sister and besides. If you were to give the tickets to anyone you had better give to that poor long suffering Tom ye employ,’ Jamie insisted.</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh there’s an idea!’ John perked up.</p><p> </p><p>‘John,’ Jamie shook his head. ‘Forget it. How many times do I have to tell ye. We are not going up to Gairloch on Hogmanay.’</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>First of January.</p><p> </p><p>‘And you have the soup?’ John pressed.</p><p> </p><p>Jamie rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, mother. I have the soup.’</p><p> </p><p>‘And the blankets. And the clean clothes...’</p><p> </p><p>‘John...’</p><p> </p><p>‘...because, no listen to me Jamie, there is a serious risk of hypothermia...’</p><p> </p><p>Even Jenny smiled and turned John around and bundled him into her people carrier.</p><p> </p><p>‘Happy new year, John,’ Jenny Murray smiled. ‘Welcome to the family.’</p><p> </p><p>John winced more than smiled. ‘Oh dear lord above you’re really doing this.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Less of the cursing if ye please.’ Jenny chided him. ‘Its a bit o’ cold water. We’ll all survive.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Besides,’ Jamie pointed out. ‘This way ye get to warm me up after.’ He reached out and slid his hands into John’s and even in spite of his hangover shared a genuinely warm smile.</p><p> </p><p>‘You couldn’t just run me through with a sword or something if you want to knock me off?’ John enquired.</p><p> </p><p>He was even more alarmed as they got closer to their destination that actually the beach was quite busy today.Full of crazy people with pop up tents for changing and a few folks in sensible wetsuits but an alarming number of bathing suits and budgie smugglers. His eyes shot to Jamie.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’ve got shorts ye wuss.’ Jamie shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>‘What precisely is a ‘wuss’?’</p><p> </p><p>‘John,’ Jamie laughed, ‘Its all about the spirit of adventure.’</p><p> </p><p>‘We could have been in Vienna right now,’ John mourned wistfully.</p><p> </p><p>‘Which I suggested and you vetoed,’ Jamie pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>‘If you two old ladies have finished arguing,’ Iain interrupted them, ‘The rest of us are going for a swim.’</p><p> </p><p>John looked Jamie deeply in the eye, smiled sadly and then patted his chest. The weather was milder than he had expected, although the wind was cold and there was snow on the hills. To John’s great surprise they were not alone in their plans for a trip to the seaside today. Jamie’s family found a patch at the top of the beach that they liked and since everyone had their costumes underneath their clothes, they began to strip off leaving everything in a pop-up tent that Iain had carried along to change after.</p><p> </p><p>John watched them, shaking his head at the lunatics going swimming in the middle of winter. Bracing was not the word. Yes, he did have his shorts on underneath but that was only as a precaution. He would watch the rest of them from a distance, prepare the soup and blankets and snuggle up with Jamie afterwards. He watched with disbelief, shaking his head as the kids ran gleefully towards the beach as if there wasn’t frost still clinging to the sand dunes. Jamie looked more strapping and handsome than any man had any right to while half naked in the West Highlands in January and John could admit to himself a little shameless gawking as Jamie started paddling.</p><p> </p><p>First just his toes. Then his feet. Then inching a few steps deeper.</p><p> </p><p>It was taking forever.</p><p> </p><p>A child ran in and screamed and ran back out again.</p><p> </p><p>The thing was, John began to realise, it was just taking so damned long at this rate he would be the one getting hypothermia. With a frustrated sigh, John stripped off his clothes, stuffed them beside Jamie’s and marched himself down to the water.</p><p> </p><p>‘If you’d told me all I had to do was paddle there would have been absolutely no need for the hysterics, you know,’ John came over to Jamie and slid his hand into Jamie’s hand. The water was freezing and having his feet alone in the deceptively blue and beautiful sea took his breath away. And not in a good way.</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh holy fuck that’s cold.’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie gave John’s a squeeze. ‘Ye have tae inch yer way in. Bit by bit. Til ye get used to it.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Or your toes start dropping off from frostbite,’ John muttered.</p><p> </p><p>‘Nonsense. Been swimming in the sea all my life.’</p><p> </p><p>John looked at Jamie as if they didn’t even know each other.</p><p> </p><p>Jamie leaned over and pecked John on the cheek. ‘Ye’ll live yet. Happy New Year, John.’</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To John’s horror, however, the affair was not quite over. Jamie did indeed inch his way further and further in. John winced in sympathy as Jamie submerged himself to the waist only to find himself at the sharp end of the kids teasing for taking so long. The kids meanwhile splashed and took pride in dipping right under, and swam and played until they were shivering violently and then ran up the beach and took turns urgently getting warm and dry and dressed in the tent and then attacking the hot drinks.</p><p> </p><p>Beside him, Jamie was up to his chest taking deep gasping breaths as the cold water threatened to seize him up. It was several long moments before Jamie could do anything other than try not to have a heart attack and then to John’s disbelief he was off like some sort of crazed seal, doing the front crawl out until he couldn’t stand up and then swimming back to shore, dipping under and swimming through the water to pop up at John’s side.</p><p> </p><p>Jamie stood up, laughing and happy as larry.</p><p> </p><p>John was frozen somewhere between violent attraction and absolute horror.</p><p> </p><p>‘Go on then,’ Jamie encouraged him. ‘You can swim, I presume.’</p><p> </p><p>‘And if I can’t?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Then take a quick dook under and go and fight the bairns for the soup while its hot.’</p><p> </p><p>‘I can’t just stay here? I’ve already halfway to being a eunach. You know the chances of hypothermia if you get your head cold are...nevermind.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Its called a dook for a reason,’ Jamie teased him, taking pity on John and winding an arm around his waist. ‘It doesn’t count til you’re fully submerged.’</p><p> </p><p>‘This country is mad. I have married into a country of lunatics.’</p><p> </p><p>‘I did tell ye its called the ‘loonie dook,’ did I not?’</p><p> </p><p>John took in a deep breath. ‘You know what? Indeed you did.’ He had had quite enough of inching his way through freezing water. The sooner he started the sooner he could finish. John submerged himself into the water the last of way and then closed his eyes to dip right under. He came sputtering to the surface in a cloud of swearing and salt spray as the waves lapped their bodies. Jamie laughed fondly and steadied him. ‘There ye go. Baptised the new year.’</p><p> </p><p>John couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything but gasp as his whole body seized up with the shock of the cold.</p><p> </p><p>From twenty yards up the beach Jenny heckled them, ‘Stop being soft on the poor man, brother. Ye ken it doesn’t count til he’s swum a bit.’</p><p> </p><p>Whatever version of hell would they come up with next? It was time to get this ordeal over. Already the cold was getting into his bones. John launched into a beautiful butterfly, hampered somewhat by an errant wave that splashed saltwater right into his mouth. He did the backstroke back towards shore, enjoying the view of the winter sky until the water got too shallow and he stood up and as he did he found laughter bubbling up in his body as adrenaline and endorphins rushed through his veins.</p><p> </p><p>Joyfully as the water temperature was more like twenty-six than six, Jamie launched himself back into the water and John joined him to swim back and forth a few times until the cold got too much and they made the mad dash out of the water and back up the beach to the tent to get warm and dry.</p><p> </p><p>They shared the tent, bumping elbows as John accidentally snared Jamie’s jumper and refused to give it up so that Jamie was resigned to wearing John’s which was slightly too small and clung to all his muscles.</p><p> </p><p>‘Scheming wee sod, ye are,’ Jamie grumbled.</p><p> </p><p>‘Dear God, warm clothes have never felt so warm,’ John huddled and hugged Jamie as he struggled to put socks on.</p><p> </p><p>‘Stop cursing God, ye heathen!’ Jenny yelled through the tent send the children into riots of giggling.</p><p> </p><p>The moment he was dressed again warmth began to fill John’s body and he clung to Jamie, letting a cold hand sneak underneath the hem of Jamie’s top while Jamie snorted and shook his head and his lips found John’s for a brief moment only for the tent to unzip itself from the outside and Iain’s head appeared.</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh, keep it clean, lads!’ Iain grumbled good naturedly.</p><p> </p><p>‘What can I say. Your children ate all the soup. The rest of us survivors will have to stay warm in more...creative ways.’ John smiled.</p><p> </p><p>‘Well far be it from me to curb yer fun, John. I guess ye’ll not be wanting the emergency pot of broth Jenny packed just for the adults, then.’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie laughed as John shot out of the tent and gravitated towards the thermos flasks that Jenny was organising. By the time the day was done they headed back to the car, all the party were still slightly chilled but invigorated from the sharp cold of the sea and the rush of endorphins. Full of sandwiches and warm soup and with their warm, dry clothes on, John snuggled up into Jamie’s side in the back of the people carrier as they headed back south.</p><p> </p><p>Jamie slung an arm around his love and kissed the top of his head. ‘Thank you John.’</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re completely mad.’</p><p> </p><p>‘We’ll do Vienna next year.’</p><p> </p><p>John clung on to that thought. And yet already he missed the sound of the laughter and care free screeches, the rush of cold, the salt of the sea and the gasp of your lungs, the flood of endorphins, the warmth of fresh clothes and soup. It made no sense at all, John had hated every second of it. ‘Its alright really. They probably show it on the telly. I mean this is tradition, right? ’</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t be daft. I said we’ll do Vienna next year and we’ll do Vienna next year.’</p><p> </p><p>‘We don’t have to. You only have to go to that sort of thing once really, don’t you? And we’ve got time?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t tell me ye’re a convert to this, now?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Do you think they call it the Loonie Dook for those who are mad enough to do it in the first palce? Or for that particular brand of madness for those who keep on coming back?’</p><p> </p><p>Jamie pulled out a blanket and tucked it around them both, to much teasing from the children. ‘Tell me next year. Happy New Year, John.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Happy New Year, Jamie.’</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>People have different names in different places for the tradition of swimming in the sea on New Year’s Day. In Scotland we call it ‘loonie dooking’. </p><p>Dook is a Scottish word meaning to submerge.</p><p>The New Years Day Concert is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic live from Vienna on the first of January every year and features a programme that heavily features the famous Strauss family of composers. It is one of the most popular annual concerts in Europe and has been happening every year for eighty years. If you have never watched it, it is worth going online and looking at some of the videos for the beautiful music, stunning floral displays, the magnificient gilded concert hall and graceful dancing idents from professional dancers.</p><p>Best wishes for 2021 and lang may yer lum reek.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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